CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - SPIRIT OF ROMANTICISM

 

CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SPIRIT OF ROMANTICISM

Pafos: Wednesday 19 May 2021

Markideio Municipal Theatre, 20:30

Lemesos: Thursday 20 2021

Rialto Theatre, 20:30

Lefkosia: Friday 21 May 2021

Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate, 20:30

Conducted by the renowned German maestro Wolfram Christ, this programme features music by romantic composers of Central Europe, bursting with emotion and drama.

Discovered in 1951, Antonín Dvořák’s Seven pieces for small orchestra, were composed back in 1867 to be performed during the interval of a drama production, as was the custom at the time at the Provisional Theatre in Prague. In them one soon discovers seven movements of gorgeous, surprising theatricality, as if written to accompany the play itself.

All fifteen violin concertos by the German composer Louis Spohr show great originality, vigour and a distinct melodic elegance. CySO’s concertmaster Wolfgang Schroeder will be interpreting Spohr’s Violin concerto nο. 8. Subtitled “in modo di scena cantante”, this concerto stands out by assigning to the violin the role of an opera character, much in the way of a dramatic opera scene, including characteristic recitative and aria style sections.

Full of optimism, bliss and exuberance, Antonín Dvořák’s Serenade for strings was written in 1875, during one of the happiest and most productive times of his life.

Antonín Dvořák: Seven pieces for small orchestra

Louis Spohr: Violin concerto no. 8 in A minor (in modo di scena cantante), op. 47

Antonín Dvořák: Serenade for strings in E major, op. 22

Soloist: Wolfgang Schroeder, violin

Conductor: Wolfram Christ

With the support of the Goethe–Institut Zypern

Supporters: Pafos Municipality, Limassol Municipality, Rialto Theatre

Ticket prices: €12, €7 (18-26 yrs, pensioners), €5 (under 18)

Ticket presales: · For the concerts in Lefkosia and Pafos, online at cyso.interticket.com

· For the concert in Lefkosia, tickets are also available at the Pallas Theatre Box Office every Wednesday 16:00-19:00. · For the concert at the Rialto Theatre, online at rialto.interticket.com - Rialto App and at the Theatre Box Office Mon-Fri 10:00-15:00.

· Tickets will not be available at the theatre box offices on the concert day.

Markideio Municipal Theatre (Andrea Geroudi 27, 8010 Pafos, 26 22228)

Rialto Theatre (Andrea Drousioti 19, Heroes Square, 3040 Lemesos, 77777745)

Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate (Rigainis and Arsinois corner, 1010 Lefkosia, 22 410181)

WOLFGANG SCHROEDER, violinist

As soloist and chamber player, Wolfgang Schröder has performed in prestigious concert halls such as the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Great Performers Series at the Lincoln Center New York, at the Frick Collection Museum, New York, at London’s Barbican Hall, the Megaron Music Hall of Athens and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

As a member of the Trio Parnassus, he received the prestigious “Echo Classic” prize for the best chamber music recording of the year. He was artistic director of both European Union Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Stuttgart. The other ensemble which gained international reputation is the "Belcanto Strings", of whom Wolfgang Schroeder was a founding member. Schröder’s discography is extensive. He recorded for MDG, Thorofon and other important labels. In 2016 he released the Complete Sonatas for Violin by Eugene Ysaye for Hook Records. Since 2005, in conjunction with an active performing career, he is Concertmaster of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.

WOLFRAM CHRIST, conductor

Long-time legendary First Principal Viola of the Berlin Philharmonic, Principal Viola of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Professor at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, after one of the most rewarding career as soloist that has seen him played all over the world, Wolfram Christ, has become highly regarded as a conductor epitomising sincerity and musical integrity.

Praised for his exhilarating and sensitive interpretations, Wolfram Christ has worked with orchestras on five continents, including the orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with whom he works each season, the Munich and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, Royal Danish Orchestra Copenhagen, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart of Bologna, Basque National Orchestra San Sebastián, Simón Bolívar Orchestra Caracas, Auckland Philharmonia, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra Osaka, German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken, and Camerata Madrid. He recently toured the English Chamber Orchestra to an acclaimed performance at Lucerne Festival and gave his debut with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in autumn 2019.

Between 2004 and 2008 Wolfram Christ was Chief Conductor of the Kurpfalz Chamber Orchestra Mannheim. Throughout this time he led the ensemble to a period of increased concert activity at home and abroad, and collaborated with internationally established soloists such as Sabine Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Albrecht Mayer, Simone Kermes and Renaud Capuçon. He held the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra from 2009 to 2013, and highlights from his tenure include appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein and Lucerne Festivals in 2011, an extended tour of South America in 2012 as well as a project with pianist Hélène Grimaud in 2013.

Released in early 2014 on the hänssler CLASSIC label, Wolfram Christ’s recording of C.P.E. Bach’s Hamburg Symphonies with Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has received international critical acclaim and is widely regarded as the finest performance of these works. The disc has been described by Classics Today as “gripping... hands down, the best version of these remarkable pieces yet recorded” and as “interpreted with great sensitivity and bite, when necessary” by Presto Classical.